“The injuries are a problem. There’s no doubt about that,” he said after his team lost to the Lakers. “But, I think we have to respond better to them.”

The need to respond to injuries will be even higher on Monday, as J.J. Redick could be joining Blake Griffin and Chris Paul on the Clipper sidelines against Denver.

Redick injured his left hamstring in the third quarter of the Clippers’ 111-102 loss Sunday.

“At first, I thought I just cramped up. I’m not a person who gets cramps, though,” Redick said. “…I would describe it as mild, day-to-day thing. It could be a day, could be seven. I don’t know. We’ll see how I feel tomorrow.”

After the game, Rivers said Chris Paul will also likely miss Monday’s game after nearly playing Sunday.

“I wanted him to say he felt great. And, right now, feeling good is just not good enough,” Rivers said. “If it’s the playoffs, clearly, that’s good enough. Game 30-whatever, ‘I feel good enough’ isn’t good enough of a response. You have to feel 100 percent.”

Redick said the timing of his injury isn’t ideal, but Griffin and Paul’s absences can’t be considerations – especially not in December.

“I don’t think you make decisions based on who else is out. You have to make a decision based on what’s best for the team and yourself in the long run,” Redick said. “And, I never like missing games. If I feel great tomorrow, I’d love to play. If I’m ready, I’ll play. It’s not a matter of being cautious or not. I think it’s more ‘smart’ that’s the approach.”

Join the Conversation

We invite you to use our commenting platform to engage in insightful conversations about issues in our community. Although we do not pre-screen comments, we reserve the right at all times to remove any information or materials that are unlawful, threatening, abusive, libelous, defamatory, obscene, vulgar, pornographic, profane, indecent or otherwise objectionable to us, and to disclose any information necessary to satisfy the law, regulation, or government request. We might permanently block any user who abuses these conditions.

If you see comments that you find offensive, please use the “Flag as Inappropriate” feature by hovering over the right side of the post, and pulling down on the arrow that appears. Or, contact our editors by emailing moderator@scng.com.